The exam consists of two parts: fill in the blank (35 questions worth 70 out of 200 points) and analytic (4 questions worth 20, 35, 25 and 50 points respectively).

There are a couple of very specific instructions that I want to repeat here so that you are prepared for them when you read them on the exam.

 “In all parts you must first determine an equation for the value sought, in terms of values that are given, that you can read off the plot, or that you have previously determined. Then, and only then, should you plug in numerical values. You will receive NO CREDIT if you do not first give an expression in terms of variables. Note that in some cases you will need to make up your own variable names. Please try to keep to the standards we used in class. If at any point you are unable to determine a value, keep going, using a variable name rather than its value, in your proceeding calculations (if necessary). You will still get credit. Please box your answers.”

If this instruction is in any way unclear to you, please ask (BEFORE the exam). Perhaps the most important part of the statement is this: don’t give up on the problem just because you can’t figure out the answer to one part. Just assign that answer a variable name and keep going. You can still get full credit on the proceeding questions if you do that.

 “For the remainder of this problem DO NOT use your answers from previous parts. Instead, write everything in terms of general variables (E, B, …)”

This is a rather long question and I don’t want you to feel that previous mistakes will influence your ability to continue work. Again, read and attempt every part of every problem, regardless of your ability to answer earlier parts.

Every part of every question on this exam is of roughly equal importance (i.e. will be graded out of roughly the same number of points, usually 2-5). The exception to this are the longer “show work” parts of questions, which will be weighed more heavily (10, 15, … points).

With the possible exception of the "show work" problems, there are no very lengthy calculations on this exam. If you find yourself writing more than a couple of lines of equations you are doing too much. I have tried to indicate how little work is required in some places by making the response space small. If you find that this cramps your style, I have also placed several nearly blank pages throughout the exam that you should feel free to use for working out problems. Please make sure that your final answer is in the original space however, and clearly indicate if you want us to look elsewhere for the work.

Perhaps most importantly, here is a list of topics that will NOT be covered on the final exam:

Quantitative dipole questions (there WILL be conceptual dipole questions)

Magnetic materials (except for the cores in inductors, which you do need to understand)

I hope that omitting these last two large categories significantly reduces your study burden. Circuits will be covered on the exam – they make up about half of the exam.   There will NOT be any “multi-loop Kirchhoff loop rule problems” (of the type where you have to get a set of equations and solve, for example, for the current). In studying circuits I urge you to review the experiments – these covered a significant number of the ideas which will be tested on the final.

Roughly speaking, anything that we emphasized in class or in the problem sets that is not on the list above will be covered on the final.

Several students have asked me how hard this exam is going to be, or which of the midterms it will be most similar to. I have a very difficult time answering this question. I think that the fill in the blank questions should be easier than the usual multiple choice. But there are a whole lot of them. If you find yourself getting bogged down on any I urge you to move on and come back to them. All of the questions require a strong conceptual understanding of the material. Mathematically they should be very straight forward. Probably it is most comparable to the third exam, in that it is synthetic across the semester.

Best of luck to you in your studies and in all of your finals.